n this age of immersion circulators and calcium-chloride baths, there is something refreshing about such a simple method of food preparation. But there’s technique, too, and deft seasoning, not to mention eclectic ingredients, all of which harmonize in compositions like a zingy pea-green salad with those salty, chewy slabs of grilled haloumi. A trio of eggplants (Thai, Japanese, and Italian) are oiled and charred and paired with a button of deep-fried goat cheese; even simple salads are thoughtfully embellished—iceberg with a hot bacon dressing, Bibb lettuce with fried shallots and a tangy vinaigrette.

But you go to a steakhouse (even an incidental one) for the meat and potatoes, and in this regard, St. Anselm does not disappoint. In proper New Brooklyn Cuisine fashion, a chalkboard by the door assures all who enter of the “natural,” hormone-and-antibiotic-free pedigree of its proteins. Of these, we recommend the butcher’s steak, a hunk of hanger so rich and tender it could convert a gang of vegan toughs. The cola-braised deviled bones—slow-cooked, panko-crusted beef back ribs—are delicious too, and for sandwich aficionados there is an excellent grilled patty melt, the classic burger subspecies that, oddly, hasn’t gotten its due in this great burger age of ours. (Indeed, when Katie Lee Joel threw her hat into the ring at the Wine & Food Burger Bash a few years ago with what was indisputably a patty melt, many experts in the crowd were unable to identify the thing, and dismissed it as a mere grilled cheese sandwich.)

NY Times says:

The new iteration is charming, with a pulsing bass line of ambition beneath its simple steakhouse melody. Yvon de Tassigny, the restaurant’s chef, has matched great live-fire technique to excellent groceries, and reveals himself to be a master of off-cut lamb and beef. And his iceberg salad, served below warm bacon vinaigrette that melts a scattering of blue cheese across the top and softens the exterior of the crisp lettuce, is among the great things to eat on the north side of Williamsburg.